First-year Illinois coach Bret Bielema and the Fighting Illini head to State College this weekend for a Saturday clash with Penn State Nittany Lions football.

Bielema spoke to the media earlier this week, providing injury news, some interesting opinions on the makeup of his team, and a thought or two on the Nittany Lions.

Bielema said at the onset of the week that starting quarterback Brandon Peters wasn't cleared to practice Tuesday.

The Illini signal caller suffered an injury in a loss to Wisconsin on October 9 and is not yet ready to return to practice despite the bye week for the Illini.

"I do think at some point this week, we could possibly get his return, but right now going into the work week, a normal game week, he hasn't been cleared for practice," Bielema said.

Bielema said Peters would not start this weekend if he does not practice this week.

Peters has completed 40 of his 82 attempts on the season for 410 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He has thrown fewer passes than Art Sitkowski, but Bielema made it clear Peters is the starter.

Sitkowski has thrown 129 passes, completing 66 of them for 666 yards, six touchdowns and an interception.

The final game of last season, in which Penn State clobbered the Illini, was the first game since Bielema's hiring at Illinois — which he watched from the press box.

A program in transition, a significant portion of Bielema's presser was spent talking about recruiting and roster building.

In response to one particular question about recruiting, he had a very interesting thought on the offensive line left behind by Lovie Smith and his staff.

"The roster is going to have to change to get to where we want to be to win the championship," he said. "I recognized that probably midway through the spring, through the summer.

"Certain positions haven't maybe played out the way they envisioned them to, particularly the offensive line. I don't think we have a player in the two-deep that they've recruited here over the last two years that is significantly doing anything for us in the playing department."

Bielema was complimentary right off the bat of Arnold Ebiketie, calling him Penn State's best defensive lineman.

He found it interesting that the Nittany Lions have used the transfer portal and the junior college route to acquire a nice chunk of their talent, especially on defense. Four of Penn State's 11 regular starters on defense weren't recruited out of high school.

Bielema thinks using avenues to bring in players is something the Nittany Lions have done well, and something he may have to replicate with the Illini.

"Very tremendous challenge this week," he said of the game ahead. "Any time you're on the road in the Big Ten it's going to be a challenge. I think our guys are ready to get back on the field and compete."

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